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Friday, July 25, 2008

Another Real Estate "Investor"...

Real estate mogul Donald Trump closed the sale of a Palm Beach mansion to a Russian billionaire Tuesday for the blockbuster price of $95 million.

Now attention turns to the new owner, Rybolovlev, said to be one of Russia's wealthiest businessmen. The Forbes list of the world's billionaires places him at No. 59, with an estimated net worth of $12.8 billion.

In a statement released to The Wall Street Journal in June, Rybolovlev confirmed he was the buyer but characterized the purchase as an investment.

Sources say Rybolovlev is considering tearing down the house and building a new mansion - a move that could make the deal the most expensive teardown.

By the way, that ain't a lot of money for this buyer. He only shelled out ($100 million / $12.8 billon) or 1/128th of his net worth for this palace.

Most of the regular folk are technically bankrupt when they subtract their mortgage debt from their net worth. Or, even without a mortgage, most people have far more substantial percentage of their wealth tied up in shelter.

$95 million, $125 million, or even $200 million...what's the difference to a buyer like this?

There are always fortunes being made somewhere, somehow. Guys like Trump are certainly savvy to speculate in the high end of the real estate spectrum. Who better to cater to than those who, well let's just say, are impervious to the mortgage market?